Sneha stood bright-eyed center stage in the dead silence that amplified her heartbeat. Each graceful movement she executed validated that we rise by lifting others. I felt my neurotransmitters release the ‘happiness hormone’ as I locked eyes with every child waiting their turn to perform. The event ‘A Musical Evening’ aimed to propagate equality for people with disabilities, raise funds and change societal perceptions about the differently abled. These funds would enable children like Sneha to live with confidence and dream big. I cast my eyes around the packed auditorium in palm-studded Panjim and observed admiration replace pity, usually expressed for the differently abled.
As Sneha traipsed offstage, I reminisced about my time with Sneha …show more content…
I remembered my own pain and desire to take center stage. Drowning in a sea of opinions blurred my vision and left me directionless. The line “You can’t sit with us” from the movie ‘Mean Girls’ is how I felt - extraterrestrial and excluded. I can still picture people quizzing me about my peculiarity saying, “Why do you walk like that?” or “Is there something wrong with you?” My neighbor learned robotics, my close friend played tennis and I learned how to sit and walk all over again. Lying on a hospital bed, my heart felt heavier than the casts immobilizing my legs every six months since the age of three. Plates were implanted in my knee for four years. I spent a majority of my summer break going through hours of physiotherapy thrice a day. The prolonged treatment left me with six scars on my legs and my body absorbed various drugs that could not heal my emotional wounds. Sneha doubted her potential when I met her, as I once doubted mine. I urged every child there to replace the feelings of despair with self-love and believe that they are beautiful. I shared what was imbibed from a chemistry class - we have different characteristics like the elements of the periodic table and we should own our quirks. The children were ready for a fresh
As Sneha traipsed offstage, I reminisced about my time with Sneha …show more content…
I remembered my own pain and desire to take center stage. Drowning in a sea of opinions blurred my vision and left me directionless. The line “You can’t sit with us” from the movie ‘Mean Girls’ is how I felt - extraterrestrial and excluded. I can still picture people quizzing me about my peculiarity saying, “Why do you walk like that?” or “Is there something wrong with you?” My neighbor learned robotics, my close friend played tennis and I learned how to sit and walk all over again. Lying on a hospital bed, my heart felt heavier than the casts immobilizing my legs every six months since the age of three. Plates were implanted in my knee for four years. I spent a majority of my summer break going through hours of physiotherapy thrice a day. The prolonged treatment left me with six scars on my legs and my body absorbed various drugs that could not heal my emotional wounds. Sneha doubted her potential when I met her, as I once doubted mine. I urged every child there to replace the feelings of despair with self-love and believe that they are beautiful. I shared what was imbibed from a chemistry class - we have different characteristics like the elements of the periodic table and we should own our quirks. The children were ready for a fresh